Multi-feed knitting machine



Sept. 15,1964 R. PEEL ETAL MULTI-FEED KNITTING MACHINE Filed June 8. 1960 18 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORSI ROBERT" PEEL PETER MAHLEB BY W ATTYS.

l b D T Sept. 15, 1964 R. PEEL ETAL MULTI-FEED KNITTING MACHINE 8 heats-Sheet 2 INV ENJ'ORSI ROBERT PEEL P ETER A. MA HLER ATTYS Filed June 8. 1960 R. PEEL ETAL MULTI-FEED KNITTING MACHINE Sept. 15, 1964 l8 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 8. 1960 YINVENTORS: ROBERT PE EL PETER A. MAHLER ATTYSI Sept. 15, 1964 R. PEEL ETAL MULTI-FEED KNITTING MACHINE *mvsuroas: ROBERT PEEL PETER A. MAHLER ATTYS.

l8 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed June 8, 1960 p 15, 1964 R. PEEL ETAL 3,148,518

MULTI-FEEP KNI ETTING MACHINE Filed June 8. 1960 18 Sheets-Sheet 6 mvcm'ons. ROBERT PEEL PETER A. MAHLER I MW Sept. 15, 1964 R. PEEL ETAL MULTI-FEED KNITTING MACHINE INVENTORSZ ROBERT PE-EL PETER A. MAHLER W ATTYS.

l8 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed June 8. 1960 Sept. 15, 1964 R. PEE L ETAL 8 MULTI-FEED KNITTING MACHINE 18 Sheets-Sheet 8 Filed June 8, 1960 INVENTORSZ ROBERT PEEL BsETEB A. MAi-LER llllll llllllllll p 15, 1964 R. PEEL ETAL 3,148,518

MULTI-FEED KNITTING MACHINE Filed June 8. 1960 l8 Sheets-Sheet 9 Ki rmammm ROBERT PEEL PETER I A. MAHLER ATTYS INVENTOR SI P 1964 v R. PEEL ETAL 3,148,518

MULTI-FEED KNITTING MACHINE Filed June 8. 1960 18 Sheets-Sheet 10 l IIIIHHIIHIIIII I III IIHIII Ill IHIHI INVENTORS ROBERT PEEL BY PETER APMAHLER ATT YS.

Sept. 15, 1964 R. PEEL ETAL MULTI-FEED KNITTING MACHINE l8 Sheets-Sheet 11 Filed June 8, 1960 mvcu'rons; ROBERT PEEL PETER A. MAHLER ATTYS.

l8 Sheets-Sheet 12 Filed June 8, 1960 mm W INVENTORS; ROBERT PEEL PETER A. MAHLER BY AT'TYS.

Sept. 15, 1964 R. PEEL- ETAL MULTI-FEED KNITTING MACHINE l8 Sheets-Sheet 13 Filed June 8. 1960 mm wi INVENTORS ROBERT PEEL 6v PETER A. MAHLER ATTYS,

Sept. 15, 1964 R. PEEL ETAL MULTI-FEED KN ITTING MACHINE l8 Sheets-Sheet 14 Filed June 8. 1960 I INVENTORS: ROBERT PEEL BY PETER A. MAHLER 1 MW ATTYS.

R. PEEL ETAL MULTL-FEED KNITTING MACHINE Sept. 15, 1964 18 Sheets-Sheet l5 ROBERT PEEL PETER A. MAHLER ATT Y5.

llllllllll l lllllllllllll I Filed June 8, 1960 Sept. 15, 1964 R. PEEL ETAL MULTI-FEED KNITTING MACHINE 18 Sheets-Sheet 16 Filed June 8. 1960 INVENTORS'.

ROBERT PEEL PETER A. MAH LER ATTYS,

MULTI l8 Sheets-Sheet 17 Filed June 8. 1960 JACK CIRCLE 4 No.! FEED SHORT BUTT JACKS No.2 FEED I m'vcni'ons: ROBERT PEEL. PETER A. MAHLER W m L D 6 NH ON L LONG BUT'T JACKS #4 No.4 FEED INTERMEOIAT BUTT NEEDLES ATTYS.

P 1964 R. PEEL ETAL 3,148,518

MULTI-FEED KNITTING MACHINE Filed June 8. 1960 18 Sheets-Sheet 18 INVENTORSI ROBERT PEEL PETER A.-MAH| ER ATTYS United States Patent 3,148,518 MULTI-FEED KNITTING MACHINE Robert Peel and Peter A. Mahler, Philadelphia, Pa., as-

signors, by mesne assignments, to The Singer Qompany, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New Jersey Filed June 8, 1960, Ser. No. 34,799 4 Ciaims. (Cl. 6642) The present invention relates to circular knitting machines, and has particular application to knitting machines of this type for making sheer ladies hosiery.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a knitting machine which enables a high rate of production without sacrificing quality in the final product.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide a multiple feed knitting machine wherein the needle action at each feed station is substantially identical so as to reduce to a minimum the possibility of nonuniform loops which would otherwise result.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a knitting machine having novel driving connections embodied therein which effect a positive drive of various components of the machine without danger of undesired lost motion and the like.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a knitting machine of the stated character having four feeds and in which all four feeds operate simultaneously throughout the entire stocking including the make-up.

The invention provides a knitting machine including a novel cabinet for the supply yarns which maintains the yarns at the proper condition of relative humidity to insure optimum knitting conditions.

The present invention provides a knitting machine of relatively simple construction and operation which is fully effective to provide a stocking on four feeds.

All of the objects of the invention and the various features and details of the construction and operation thereof are more fully set forth hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary view in side elevation of the upper portion of a knitting machine embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of that portion of the knitting machine shown in FIG. 1 with certain portions broken away to more clearly illustrate the construction thereof;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view in side elevation of that portion of the machine shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on the angled section line 55 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary View in side elevation of that portion of the machine shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a local sectional view taken on the line.77 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken on the line 88 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the mechanism shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a vertical sectional view through the knitting machine showing the driving connections to the knitting instrumentalities and controls;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged view of that portion of FIG. 10 showing the yarn-feed station;

FIG. 12 is a vertical section taken at right angles to FIG. 10 generally along the line 1212 thereof;

FIG. 13 is a view taken on the line 1313 of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 14-14 of FIG. 10;

FIG. 15 is a further enlarged fragmentary View of that r ce portion of FIG. 14 illustratnig the yarn clamp mechanism;

FIG. 16 is a sectional view taken on the line 1616 of FIG. 15

FIG. 17 is a detached perspective view of the mechanism shown in FIGS. 15 and 16;

FIG. 18 is an enlarged fragmentary view in side elevation showing the splicing control mechanism of the kniting machine shown in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 19 and 20 are enlarged sectional views taken on the lines 19-19 and 2ti2 respectively of FIG. 18;

FIG. 21 is an enlarged fragmentary view taken on the line 2121 of FIG. 18;

FIG. 22 is a sectional view taken on the line 22-.22 of FIG. 21;

FIG. 23 is an enlarged sectional View taken on the stepped section line 23-23 of FIG. 18;

FIG. 24 is a sectional view taken on the irregular line 24-24 of FIG. 23;

FIG. 25 is .a fragmentary sectional viewtaken onthe line 25'25 of FIG. 24;

FIG. 26 is a fragmentary detached perspective view of the mechanism shown in FIGS. 23 to 25 with certain elements removed;

FIG. 27 is a fragmentary View taken on line 27-27 of FIG. 18;

FIG. 28 is a sectional view taken on the line 28-28 of FIG. 27;

FIG. 29 is a fragmentary horizontal section through the yarn supply cabinet shown in FIG. 1 with the yarn packages removed;

FIG. 30 is a sectional view taken on theline 3030 of FIG. 29 with the yarn packages shown in broken lines;

FIG. 31 is a sectional view taken on the line 3131 of FIG. 29;

FIG. 32 is a detached perspective view of the humidifying pan of the yarn cabinet shown in FIGS. 29 to 31 inclusive;

FIG. 33 is a development of the cylinder showing diagrammatically the travel of the jacks and the needle butts during the initial portion of the formation of the makeup courses of the stocking;

FIG. 34 is a diagrammatic representation of the position of the bits during the formation of the makeup courses diagrammed in FIG. 33;

FIG. 35 is a view similar to FIG. 33 showing the, travel of the needle butts. and jacks during the remainder of the makeup courses;

FIG. 36 is a view similar to FIGS. 33 and 35 showing the travel of the needle butts and jacks during the formation of the welt;

FIG. 37 is a view similar to FIG. 35 showing the travel of the needle butts and jacks during the formation of the transfer courses;

FIG. 38 is a view similar to FIG. 34 showing the position of the transfer bits during the formation of the transfer courses;

FIG. 39 is a view similar to FIG. 33 showing the travel of the needle butts and jacks during the formation of the plain stitches in the shadow welt, leg and foot portions of the stocking;

FIG. 40 is a view similar to FIG. 39 showing the formation of the mesh in theleg and foot portions of the stocking;

FIG. 41 is a development of the cylinder showing the jackand needle positions during the mesh knitting;

FIG. 42is a detached representation of a set of jacks employed in the illustrated machine;

FIG. 43 is .a diagrammatic representation of the dial showing the operation of the bits;

FIG. 44 is a diagram of the travel of the jacks during the mesh formation showing the jack slides.

FIG. 45 is a development of the cams cooperable with the jack slides to produce the mesh pattern;

FIG. 46 is a diagram of the mesh pattern produced by the cams developed in FIG. 45;

FIG. 47 is a diagrammatic representation of the mechanism controlling the jack slides for the formation of the mesh, and showing the arrangement of the jack circle;

FIGS. 48 and 49 are sectional views taken on the lines 48-48 and 4949 of FIG. 47;

FIG. 50 is a diagrammatic representation of the needle circle cooperating with the jack circle shown in FIG. 47;

FIG. 51 is a fragmentary perspective view of the jack control mechanism shown in FIG. 47;

FIG. 52 is a perspective view of the stocking tube formed by the machine of the present invention;

FIG. 53 is a view of the tube after being formed into a stocking;

FIG. 54 is a perspective view of the stocking as seen on the leg; and

FIG. 55 is an enlarged stitch diagram of that portion of the stocking shown by the broken lines 55 in FIG. 53 showing the mesh stitch formed by the mechanism illustrated in the drawings.

The knitting machine of the present invention knits a stocking as a continuous uninterrupted tube, the needle circle rotating unidirectionally throughout the formation of the stocking. With stockings made in accordance with the conventional practice, the heel and toe of the stocking are made with pockets formed by oscillating the needle circle in these areas of the stocking. Such oscillation reduces the production of the machine, as well as requiring operation at a greatly reduced speed during knitting of the toe pocket and heel pocket. The formation of a stocking according to the conventional prior art method involves an approximate time of between and 18 minutes according to the type of machine, whereas in accordance with the present invention, the time for the formation of the stocking is reduced to approximately 3 minutes.

As shown in FIG. 52, the stocking 61 as it comes from the knitting machine, consists of a straight, gradually tapering tube 62. When the stocking is subsequently finished, the toe is closed, for example by a seam 63 (see FIG. 53), and the stocking is shaped as shown in FIG. 54 to conform to the contour of the leg. The formation of the stocking is started on four feeds with a plurality of makeup courses corresponding in number to the number of feeds. Following makeup of the stocking, the knitting proceeds to form the welt 65, each feed feeding a heavy welt yarn, for example of 40 denier. The formation of the welt continues, the makeup courses being held on transfer bits generally in accord with the conventional practice. After the completion of the welt 65, a transfer course is formed into which the makeup courses are interknit to complete the formation of the welt as a double thickness of knitted fabric. Following the transfer course, the welt yarn is knit to form a multiplicity of courses of shadow welt 66. At the end of the shadow welt, the leg yarns are introduced, the leg yarns being of lighter denier than the welt yarns, for example denier. The leg yarns continue knitting to form the leg 67 of the stocking. During the knitting of the leg, the needle cylinder and sinkers are gradually displaced downwardly relative to the needles to form stitches of decreasing length, thereby causing the leg of the stocking to taper inwardly. The knitting of the leg may be done with plain knitting, or if desired, a mesh or net stitch may be employed as shown in FIG. 55. At the end of the leg, splicing yarns are introduced on two of the four feeds to provide a reinforcement 68 in the area of the heel, the splicing yarns being knit-in only for a portion of the travel of the needles in the revolution of the needle circle and floated in the remainder of the travel. During the knitting of the heel reinforcement 68, the displacement of the cylinder may be arrested so that the remainder of the stocking is knit as a cylindrical tube, forming the foot 69 of the stocking. At the end of the foot, the heavier yarns are again inserted on the four feeds to form a toe portion 70 of heavier weight. The toe portion is knitted until the stocking is completed at which time the yarn is pressed off and the completed stocking blank is withdrawn from the area of the needles by the take-up. The toe portion of the stocking is then closed by seaming and the extraneous end portions and the reinforcing yarn floats are sheared prior to finishing the stockings. The closed tube is further shaped and set during the finishing operation to conform to the desired contour.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the knitting machine of the present invention comprises a frame having a needle cylinder 101 mounted therein for rotation about its axis. The needle cylinder is of substantially conventional construction having vertical slots therein slidably mounting needles 102, and jacks 103 for vertical movement. The needles 102 have short, intermediate and long butts 104, 105, and 106 as shown in FIG. 41, and are grouped as shown in FIG. 50. The jacks 103 have upper and lower butts 54 and 55 respectively for guiding engagement with the upper and lower edges of the jack cam track. The upper butts 54 of the jacks 103 are alternately long and short as indicated at 54a and 54b in FIG. 42 for a purpose more fully described hereinafter in connection with the makeup and transfer operation of the knitting machine.

Surrounding the needle circle 102, the frame 100 mounts a plurality, in the present instance four, feed stations 111, 112, 113, and 114, each having a plurality of feed fingers (see FIGS. 10 and 11). The frame also receives the sinker ring 118 which is mounted on the cylinder 101, the sinkers being slidable in the ring 118 to cooperate in the conventional way with the feed fingers and needles to form the knitted tube.

The vertical displacement of the needles is controlled by needle cams, needle slides, and jack slides, selected ones of which are displaceable as more fully set forth hereinafter. The knitting instrumentalities are controlled in a predetermined manner by a pattern chain 121, a pattern drum 122 (see FIG. 12), and a mesh cam bank 123 (see FIG. 2). The splicing control mechanism is provided at 124 to time the operation of the splicing feed fingers 115 during the formation of the reinforced heel patch or other areas.

The yarn is supplied to the yarn feed fingers 115 from a yarn supply cabinet 131 mounting a plurality of supply packages 132 and of yarns of various weights and characteristics for forming the different portions of the stocking. In accordance with the invention, the yarn cabinet 131 includes a humidifying device 133 to maintain the supply of yarn in proper condition for knitting. The yarn from the packages 132 and 135 is directed by suitable guide means through tensioning devices indicated generally at 134 to the yarn feed fingers 115. The tensioning devices insure proper tensioning of the yarns to effect the formation of the knitted loops uniformly throughout the length of the stocking, subject to the gradual shortening of the stitches effected by adjustment of the needle cylinder relative to the needles.

A rotary dial 141 (see FIG. 10) is mounted concentric with the cylinder 101 within the needle circle 102. A stationary dial cap 142 overlies the dial. The rotary dial 141 mounts a series of bits 144 for radial movement upon rotation of the dial under the action of dial bit cams 145 (see FIGS. 11, 14 and 43). The dial cap also mounts suitable clamping and shearing mechanism 146 in the present instance, one mechanism for each of the four feeds. The clamping and shearing mechanism 146 is clearly illustrated in FIGS. 15 to 17 inclusive. Each mechanism 146 is operated in the conventional way by means of an operating linkage 147, to shear the yarn end which passes across the dial into the mechanisms following insertion or withdrawal of one of the yarns at each feeding station. 

4. A CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE FOR LADIES'' HOSIERY, COMPRISING A ROTARY NEEDLE CYLINDER AND NEEDLES AND JACKS CARRIED THEREBY, SAID NEEDLES HAVING LONG AND SHORT BUTTS AT ONE LEVEL, SAID JACKS HAVING A PLURALITY OF BUTTS AT AT LEAST TWO LEVELS, AT LEAST FOUR FEED STATIONS DISPOSED AT SPACED LOCATIONS CIRCUMFERENTIALLY OF SAID CYLINDER, CAM MEANS OPERABLE TO ENGAGE SAID BUTTS TO DISPLACE SAID NEEDLES BETWEEN ELEVATED LATCH-CLEARING AND TUCK LEVELS AND A LOWER STITCH-DRAW LEVEL, EACH SAID FEED STATION INCLUDING AT LEAST ONE FEED FINGER OPERABLE TO ENGAGE A YARN WITH THE NEEDLES DISPOSED AT AN ELEVATED LEVEL AT SAID FEED STATION, MEANS TO EFFECT RELATIVE ROTARY TRAVEL OF SAID NEEDLES AND JACKS IN ONE DIRECTION PAST SAID FEED STATIONS AND CAM MEANS, SAID CAM MEANS INCLUDING A FIXED STITCH CAM AND A SUBSEQUENT FIXED ELEVATING CAM SURFACE OPERABLE UPON SAID NEEDLE BUTTS AT EACH FEED STATION, EACH STITCH CAM AND ELEVATING CAM SURFACE IN ITS CRITICAL AREA BEING IDENTICAL IN CONTOUR AND MOUNTED AGAINST DISPLACEMENT DURING ROTATION OF SAID CYLINDER, SAID CAM MEANS PROVIDING A PATH FOR THE BUTTS OF SELECTED NEEDLES DISPOSING SAID SELECTED NEEDLES BELOW SAID ELEVATED LATCH-CLEARING AND TUCK LEVELS IMMEDIATELY IN ADVANCE OF THE STITCH CAMS AT AT LEAST THREE OF SAID FOUR FEED STATIONS WHEREBY SAID SELECTED NEEDLES ARE NOT ENGAGED WITH YARN AT SAID STATIONS JACK SLIDE MEANS COOPERABLE WITH SAID PATH AND EFFECTIVE UPON THE BUTTS OF THE JACKS TO SELECT THE NEEDLES FOR TRAVEL IN SAID PATH AT EACH OF SAID THREE STATIONS AND A RADIALLY DISPLACEABLE NEEDLE CAM SLIDE IN REGISTRY WITH THE JACK SLIDE MEANS AT EACH OF SAID THREE STATIONS, SAID NEEDLE CAM SLIDES OPERABLE STEPWISE TO ENGAGE THE NEEDLE BUTTS AND DISPLACE THEM OUT OF THE SAID PATH TO THEREBY CANCEL THE SELECTION EFFECTED BY SAID JACK SLIDES AT EACH OF SAID THREE STATIONS. 